A FRIEND IN NEED--HOW TWO PEOPLE MAY LIVE WHILE ONE WILL STARVE--OBED
GOES IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURES, AND I AWAKE TO FIND A RATTLESNAKE CLOSE TO
MY NOSE--I AM SAVED--OBED RETURNS, BUT FOLLOWED BY A GENTLEMAN WHOSE
ROOM WOULD BE MORE PLEASANT THAN HIS COMPANY--OBED CANNOT FIRE, AND I
CANNOT RUN, BUT I SAVE HIM BY SITTING STILL--WE ANTICIPATE THE PLEASURE
OF DINING ON BEAR'S FLESH--OBED FETCHES AND CARRIES LIKE A DOG, AND WE
FARE SUMPTUOUSLY--I TAKE TO CRUTCHES--WE COLLECT STORES AND MAKE A
TENT--A RED-SKIN VISITOR.
I kept, as I was saying, my finger on the trigger, and my eye along the
barrel of my rifle, fully expecting to see a Pawnee's red visage appear
through the bushes. I knew that the dead racoon would betray me; so I
resolved to fight it out to the last, and to sell my life dearly. I
heard footsteps approaching--slowly and watchfully I thought: I peered
down out of my leafy cover; the branches of the surrounding shrubs were
pushed aside, and there, instead of the feathers and red face of an
Indian, I saw the honest countenance of young Obed Ragget, looking
cautiously about him on every side.
"Obed! Obed! I am here," I sung out; "come and help me, lad." He
sprang on when he heard my voice.
"What, Dick! is that you? Well, I am glad you have escaped, that I am,"
he exclaimed, looking up into the tree.
"So am I to see you," I cried; "but help me down, lad, for I cannot help
myself, I fear."
"That is more than I can do," said he. "Look; the red-skins have shot
me through both arms, and I can no more use them than I can fly."
I now observed that he looked very pale and weak, and that both his arms
hung down uselessly by his side. One thing also I saw, that as he could
not manage to get up to me, I must contrive to descend the tree to meet
him. Tearing, therefore, a neck-kerchief up into strips, I lowered my
gun and pistols down by it, and then prepared to descend myself. I made
it secure, as close to the trunk as I could, and grasping the short
boughs which grew out from the trunk, I threw my chief weight upon them,
while I steadied myself with the line I had made; keeping my useless
legs stretched out, lest I should fall on them, I gradually lowered
myself to the foot of the tree. We could not shake hands, but we
greeted each other most warmly. Obed complained bitterly of thirst, for
he had not moved out of the first shelter into which he had crawled, and
did not know how near the stream was. I accordingly put my hat into his
mouth, and told him to stoop down where the stream was deepest, and to
ladle up some water. This he did, and then kneeling down I held the hat
to his mouth, while he drank. I took a draught myself, and never have I
enjoyed so much the choicest beverage in my father's house as I did that
cool draught.--I now pointed to the racoon, and asked him if he was
hungry.
"Very," was his answer; "I could eat that brute raw."
"No need of that," said I; "just collect materials, and we will quickly
have a fire." Obed understood me, and with his feet soon kicked
together a pile of sticks and leaves sufficient to make a good fire. I
had a flint and steel, and we speedily had the bacon spitted and
roasting on some forked sticks before it in proper woodman's style. The
food revived us both, and restored our spirits. We neither of us were
inclined to despondency; still we could not help thinking, with sad
feelings, of what might have befallen our friends, and what might too
probably be our own fate. As Obed could not help himself, he had to sit
down close to me while I fed him; and when we had done, he assisted me
to remove myself away from the fire. I then dressed his wounds as well
as I could, bathing them freely in cold water. Some sinews were cut
through, I suspected, which prevented him from moving his arms, but no
bones were broken; and, in consequence of his fine constitution and
temperate habits, I trusted that he would recover the use of them. I
was in a worse condition, for both my legs were so much hurt that I
could not hope to walk on them for many weeks to come. However, my
upper limbs were in good case; and we agreed that, with a pair of strong
arms and stout legs between us, we might both get on very well. Obed
had left his gun in the thicket into which he had dragged it when he
fell. It was discharged, and so he went for it, bringing it to me in
his teeth, that I might clean and reload it. As he could not use it, he
left it by my side; and we had now our two rifles, and his and my
revolver pistols; so that I felt, with my back to a tree, cripple as I
was, I might prove a formidable adversary either to man or beast. While
Obed and I sat near the fire, talking over our prospects, we remembered
that a number of things had dropped from the wagons; so he volunteered
to set out in order to discover whether they had been carried off by the
Indians.
"Farewell, Dick," said he, as he rose to go. "If I don't come back
you'll know those varmint redskins have got my scalp; but though I can't
use my arms, they'll find I can use my legs before they catch me."
With many misgivings I saw him make his way out from the thicket. When
he was gone I lay back with my head on my arm, thinking over many of the
events of my past life, and contrasting them with my present condition,
till at length my eyes closed, and I forgot all recent events in sleep.
I believe that I slept very soundly without stirring my legs or arms.
At last my eyes slowly opened, and horrible indeed was the spectacle
which met them. The embers of the fire were before me, and close to it,
as if to enjoy its warmth, lay coiled up a huge rattlesnake not two
yards from me. In an instant of time I felt that its deadly fangs might
be fixed in my throat. What use to me now were my fire-arms? I dared
not move my hand to reach my revolver. I knew that I must not wink even
an eyelid, or the deadly spring might be made. The snake was, I dare
say, nearly six feet long. It had a body almost as thick as my leg--of
a yellowish-brown colour, with some dark-brown spots reaching from one
end to the other; and oh, that head, as it slowly raised it with its
vicious eyes to have a look at me! It was of large size, flat, and
covered with scales. I gazed at the rattlesnake, and the rattlesnake
gazed at me. What he thought of me I do not know; I thought him a most
hideous monster, and wished him anywhere but where he was. It seemed an
age that I thus lay, not daring even to draw a breath. I felt at last
that I must give up the contest. I prayed for mercy. The oppression on
my chest became almost insupportable. Still I dared not move. The
deadly reptile stretched out its head--slowly it began to uncoil
itself--the dread sound of its rattle struck my ear. I felt that now I
must muster all my nerve and resolution, or be lost; the huge reptile
stretched itself out and slowly crawled on--oh, horror!--it passed
directly over my wounded legs! Not a muscle quivered. I dared not look
up to ascertain whether it was gone. A minute must have elapsed--it
seemed to me a much longer time--and then, and not till then, a shout
reached my ear. It was the voice of Obed. Probably the snake had heard
it, and it was that, I have no doubt, which made him move away under the
belief that I was a dead person, who at all events could do him no harm.
My first impulse was to look round to discover what had become of the
snake. He was nowhere to be seen! My next was to turn my eyes in the
direction whence the shouting proceeded. There I saw Obed rushing along
as fast as his legs could carry him among the trees.
"Be ready with your rifle, Dick," he shouted out at the top of his
voice; "not a moment to lose, man."
I fully expected to see half a dozen red-skins following close at his
heels, and resolved to defend him to the last, and to sell my own life
dearly, although I had to fight on my stumps, when the boughs of the
trees were torn away behind him, and a huge bear appeared, grinning
horribly, in a great rage, and evidently prepared to do mischief to
somebody or something. Had Obed been able to use his arms, he was the
last person to have placed another in danger for the sake of trying to
save himself. Now, however, he had no choice but to run behind me and
the fire. Bruin trotted on, growling angrily. He was one of those
long-headed, small-eyed fellows, with pointed nose, clumsy body, and
smooth, glossy, black hair, which have a fancy for pork and ham, and
will put their paws into a corn bin if they find it open. When he got
near, as he reared up on his hind paws ready for a fight, and came on
towards me, I grasped my rifle and aimed at his head. If I missed him,
I should scarcely have had time, I feared, to seize Obed's rifle before
he would have been upon me. I knew that his body was so encased with
fat that it would be difficult to wound him vitally through that. I
fired: the bullet hit him in the head, but still he came on, gnashing
his teeth. I lifted my second rifle. I could not well have missed him
had I been standing up or kneeling, but sitting, as I was, it was
difficult to take a steady aim. He was about ten paces off: again I
fired. I felt sure that I had not missed, but with a terrific growl he
bounded on towards me. I had barely time to grasp a revolver when he
was close up to me. Already I felt his hot breath in my face; his huge
claws had hold of my limbs; he was trying to clasp me round the body:
his muzzle, with its sharp teeth, touched on my shoulder. Poor Obed,
who was standing behind me, unable to render me assistance, literally
shrieked with fear, not for himself, but for me. In another moment I
felt that I must be torn to pieces. I mustered all my nerve. It was
much wanted. I waited a moment till I could aim steadily at his head.
I fired. He gave me a terrific hug. It was his death grapple. As it
was, it very nearly squeezed the breath out of my body. Then he rolled
over and lay motionless. I did not roll after him, but lest he should
only be shamming 'coon, I dragged myself as far-off as I could to reload
my weapons.
"No fear, Dick, he's dead," cried Obed joyfully. "Well, you're a friend
at a pinch, as I always thought you."
It would not have been in his way to express his thanks by more than
this, still I knew by his looks that he was grateful to me. In reality
I had only fought in self-defence, so I do not know that he had anything
to thank me for.
"Old Bruin will afford us many a good dinner, at all events, I hope,"
said I. "And do you know, Obed, you and the bear saved my life just now
between you." And then I told him how his shouts had, I believed,
scared away the rattlesnake. "So you see, old fellow, we are quits."
Obed having ascertained by a hearty kick that Bruin was really dead, I
attached my rope to his waist and then to the bear, and by its means we
dragged the carcass a little way from our camping-ground. He then came
back and helped me along that I might cut some steaks for our supper.
We cooked them in the same way we had done the racoon. While the
operation was going forward he gave me an account of his adventures. He
had found a number of things which had fallen from the wagon, and,
wonderful to relate, they were untouched. There was the skin tent which
we had not put into the wagon, and a cask of flour and one of beef, and,
what we thought of still more value, a bag of bullets and some small
shot, and a keg of powder, besides another rifle and an axe; while
farther on, he said that there were several other smaller articles along
the road the wagon had gone. It was close to the cask of flour he had
encountered Bruin, who had undoubtedly been attracted to the spot with
the hope of appropriating it. One prize Obed brought in his mouth; it
was a tin saucepan, and very valuable we found it. Our difficulty was
now to collect all these things. Obed offered to try and drag them
together to one spot, if he could but manage to hook himself on to them.
That day we could do nothing; so that after he had collected a large
supply of firewood, we placed our backs to a tree and commended
ourselves to the care of that great God who had so mercifully preserved
our lives. We agreed that one should watch while the other slept, and
most faithfully did we keep our pledge to each other. Several days
passed without any great variation in our mode of proceeding. We cut
the bear up into thin slices, and dried them in the sun. Obed also went
round about the wood and drove in the wild turkeys, racoons, squirrels,
and other small game, which I shot. We were thus supplied with meat.
There were also plenty of herbs, the nature of which both he and I knew,
and which, though not of delicate flavour, were wholesome, and helped to
keep us in health. The weather also was very fine, and thus several
days passed away. At last I bethought me that if I could make a pair of
crutches, I might, with Obed's help, get over the ground. Two young
saplings, towards which I dragged myself, were soon cut down, and in a
couple of days I was once more upright. I could only at first move very
slowly, and with great dread of falling; but by constant practice, in
the course of a week I thought I might venture out of the wood. Obed's
arms were also gaining strength, and one of them he could already use a
little, and was thus enabled to help me. I slung the rifles over his
back, and, sticking the revolvers in my belt, off we set together. We
moved slowly, but still we went ahead. At last we reached the tent. It
struck us at once that it would be well to pitch it where it lay on our
old camping-ground. Wherever we might be Indians would find us out, so
that it would make no difference whether we were in or out of the wood,
and we might see either emigrants to California moving west, or the post
to one of the forts, and thus obtain assistance. Obed and I soon got up
the tent. I sat down, and he made his shoulders serve as a prop while I
stuck in the pole, and thus in a few minutes we had a comfortable roof
over our heads.
While we were at work, it struck me that if I could make a sort of
sleigh, it would facilitate the operation of bringing in our goods. I
set to work immediately, and in the course of two days, manufactured a
machine which answered our purpose. The season was advancing, the
nights were getting cold, and there was no time to be lost in collecting
the articles which we might require to preserve our lives through the
winter, should no one, before it set in, pass that way to rescue us.
Accordingly, we once more proceeded on our expedition. Sometimes I
walked on my crutches, and at others Obed dragged me along on the
sleigh. Certainly we were a notable example of the advantage of two
people working in concert. Alone we must have perished; together,
though injured so severely, we were able to live and comfort each other.
We never had even the slightest dispute; and though surrounded by
difficulties and dangers, and anxious about our friends, we were far
from unhappy. I have often thought that if people who are living in the
midst of all sorts luxuries and advantages would but follow the example
of Obed Ragget and me, they would be very much the happier.
Our first care was to get the kegs of powder and shot, for our stock was
almost exhausted; and with those, and a bundle of blankets, we returned
to our tent.
To make a long story short, in the course of a week we had collected
everything to be seen; and had settled ourselves very comfortably in our
new home. We also surrounded our tent with stacks of firewood, which
would serve as a barricade should we be attacked, at any time, by the
red-skins.
The exertion we went through, however, had fatigued us excessively, and
opened our wounds afresh; so that for some days we were unable to quit
the precincts of our tent. We had made ourselves beds by placing sticks
close together on the ground, and covering them with leaves, over which
we spread our blankets; and we agreed, as we lay stretched out on them,
that we were much better off than many poor fellows who had not beds to
lie on. I crawled out occasionally to light the fire, and to cook our
food, while Obed had to go to the river to get water. To prevent the
necessity of doing this so frequently, after we were both a little
rested, we emptied our beef cask, and carried it down on the sleigh to
the river, that we might fill it with water. This being done, we found
that we had over-calculated our strength, and had once more to take to
our beds. Several days more passed away, during which we scarcely
moved. Obed, too, had become very silent. I saw that something was
passing in his mind. After a time I asked him what it was.
"Why, Dick," said he, "I'm thinking that though we seem to have a good
supply of food, it won't last two hungry fellows all the winter, even if
we were to put ourselves on half allowance. Now my arms will soon be
well, and if I could make my way to one of the forts, I might bring you
assistance. I'll take a supply of powder and shot, and keep my eyes
open to look out for the red-skins. What do you say to it?"
I told him that I did not like the idea of his running so great a risk
for my sake.
"Oh, don't fear for me," he replied; "it's right that it should be done,
I'm certain of that, so I'll do it."
I said nothing more. I knew when Obed thus expressed himself, he was in
earnest. Several more days rolled slowly by. We slept a good deal in
the daytime; perhaps under our circumstances it was the best thing we
could do. One afternoon I had been asleep some time, and Obed was
snoring away on the other side of the tent, when I opened my eyes, and
then I saw, glaring at me through the doorway of the tent, the hideous
countenance of a red-skin warrior, horribly covered with paint and
decked with coloured feathers. While with his left hand he lifted up
the curtain, in his right he grasped his tomahawk, which quivered with
_his_ eagerness to take possession of our scalps.